


Braid Me Hope

by defiersofthestars



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Alderaanian Braids, Alderaanian Hair Braiding, Bittersweet Ending, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Hair Braiding, Post-Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, Rey's buns have a meaning
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-29
Updated: 2020-08-29
Packaged: 2021-03-07 02:29:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,699
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26179537
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/defiersofthestars/pseuds/defiersofthestars
Summary: His gaze darts over her face, stopping on Leia's hands that have already woven a thread into Rey's braid and are now tying an intricate knot. Rey reads its meaning in Kylo's mind, and Leia repeats it aloud.“My hope lives until the very last star in the galaxy burns out.”Based on the tweet by Fran @galacticidiots (and my reply on it): "I can’t believe Rey got an Alderaanian hood but no Alderaanian braids like pls, that would have been Leia’s first lesson"; "Leia braids Rey’s hair like she did it for Ben. Rey feels her longing and pain."
Relationships: Kylo Ren/Rey, Rey/Ben Solo, Rey/Ben Solo | Kylo Ren
Comments: 12
Kudos: 61
Collections: Galactic Idiots Collection





	Braid Me Hope

**Author's Note:**

> To be honest, I like Rey’s buns in TROS, but the fact that it was her ONLY hairstyle for the whole movie still makes me very angry. I tried to provide the explanation for them here. Hope you’ll like it.
> 
> There is no canon divergence, but I tried to fix the ending of TROS a little. If you still want this fic to be open-ended, please stop reading just before *** 
> 
> P.S. This fic is translated in English from another language. I did my best to make it nice and easy to read, but if some points seem to be uneven, I’m sorry in advance!

Rey is up at dawn.

After meditating, she plans to go to the hangar to help Rose with the maintenance of the fleet and then have one more look at the _Millennium Falcon_ \- moving through the ship, checking the operation of its hyperdrive, laser cannons, deflector shield generators and navigation systems, paying attention to the smallest parts.

Tomorrow the Resistance is heading to the Ryloth system in search of allies, and the ships should be on full alert. In fact, Rey did a full inspection of the _Falcon_ not long ago (and now she has no reason to worry), but the coolness of the instruments in her hands and all these repetitive familiar movements still comfort her. They also help erase the feeling of emptiness in her chest, where used to be the presence of Kylo... _Ben_.

Walking towards the hangar, Rey shakes her head to shake the bittersweet thoughts off.

They haven’t seen each other since the battle on Crait. She doesn’t know whether it’s because of the strong barriers built in their minds, or the Force decided they should have a rest from each other after what happened. Another thing is clear, though: Kylo became the new Supreme Leader of the First Order, and Rey must do everything to _defeat_ him.

A fresh, cooling breeze catches her hair, tickling her face. Rey wraps her arms around herself, brushing her fingertips over the scar on her right shoulder. She didn’t use bacta to heal it. The scar is the only proof that that day was real.

She really saw the light of Ben Solo in Kylo Ren. They fought side by side with Snoke's guardians, protecting each other. And the moment Rey faced the truth about her parents, when she admitted that she was _nothing_ , Kylo said that she was wrong.

The gleam of hope once lighted in her heart was dampened by darkness too, too soon, but its sparks left crimson scratches on her skin. They resemble two hands reaching out to each other, and Rey remembers the exact bright moment when time and space didn't stop them from touching.

“Can't sleep, Rey?”

The voice of General Organa brings her back to the real world. The small woman in simple green overalls is sitting with a royal dignity on the crate of provisions ready to be loaded onto the flagship.

“I have too many things to do before leaving, General,” Rey explains with a smile.

Leia pats the spot beside her.

“You have a few minutes. Have a seat.”

Rey does as told. With her hands clasped in her lap, she tries to look calm and confident, but Leia is not fooled. She herself did the same when she was younger and wanted to show her parents, the Senate (and then Han) that everything was under her control – even if it wasn’t, actually.

Over the past few weeks, Leia has been closely watching the girl that Chewie proudly considers his protégé. Rey gets along pretty well with the other members of the Resistance, and she also managed to prove herself an excellent pilot. In addition to studying the ancient Jedi texts, she spends her free time in secluded corners, far from the noisy companies of pilots and engineers, trying to fix Luke's broken lightsaber.

Sometimes, touching a blue kyber crystal, Rey looks straight ahead, frowning and moving her lips as if recalling an old conversation. Leia’s gut (or the Force?) tells her that she thinks about Ben – and that he had been involved in this stuff with the broken lightsaber.

Leia also remembers their conversation shortly after leaving Crait. Rey said Ben hadn’t wanted her dead – he had offered her to rule the galaxy together. And her? She only wanted to _bring him back_.

Perhaps, one day her son would be able to understand there’s no need for him to prove anything to anyone. Will this girl convince him that being _just Ben Solo_ is enough?

Leia blames herself for not doing this before.

"You need some rest too," Rey says gently. She sees purple shadows beneath Leia's warm brown eyes, the bitter crease hidden in the corners of her mouth. (A short stay in outer space after the explosion of the flagship has its effect too.)

“I'll have some rest in flight,” Leia replies, waving her hand carelessly. “The meeting on Ryloth promises to be difficult, but I still have a few acquaintances since the time of the New Republic.”

Rey nods, suddenly growing cold. The longer the war between the Resistance and the First Order goes on, the stronger gets the tension in the Force.

_She doesn't want to think about what will be the price of victory._

“Looks like you remember my stories?” Leia asks with a smirk. Rey touches the thin braid she’s made with the front strands of her hair, her lips smiling faintly. Sometimes in the evenings, Leia tells her about the Alderaanian special meanings of braids, the patterns made with three, four, even five strands or braids themselves. Now Rey knows they can symbolize strength, love, patience and everything else, not to mention they can send wishes for health or announce engagement. She imagines how hope and wisdom are woven into the hair with pearls, flowers, and multi-colored threads. Who would have thought that the intricate patterns made of thin braids woven together into a knot under your left ear could express feelings better than words.

Leia's dark hair with silver streaks is done in the meaningful arrangement as always. Rey recalls that the Alderaanian braid over her forehead is called _mourning_. Leia mourns Han. She mourns Luke and her friends that are now dead. But her heart also grieves for her not being able to keep Ben.

Those three buns Rey used to make herself meant something too. They supposed to help her parents recognize her among the other scavengers in Unkar Platt's sand empire. Now this is a thing of the past. And the simple pattern Rey did earlier is one of those the Alderaanians chose to focus on their day-to-day concerns (or maybe to get distracted from worries). She frowns again before realizing it.

“Guess what my mother did to cheer me up as a kid,” Leia says suddenly.

“Queen Breha?” Rey asks to clarify, the whispers about the twins' real parents, Jedi Anakin Skywalker and Senator Padmé Amidala, echoing in her head.

Leia nods. “She braided my hair and decorated it with flowers and ribbons. She personally always had her hair done into crown braids symbolizing power and wisdom. They also were convenient, to be fair – her hair was _very_ long.”

Rey snorts in response. She remembers some sayings Leia intoned one night with her hands pantomiming braiding hair.

_“...for peace in your soul, rest a braid of three strands on your left. Weaving four in one, you’ll find the answer you need. Make a bun by entwining two braids, and the right words will be there right in time.”_

Now Leia offers to do her another Alderaanian pattern, and Rey agrees. She begins to get used to the idea that people can do good just like that, without expecting anything in return.

The base is still quiet. Rey turns her back on Leia, closing her eyes, enjoying the sense of peace this woman always radiates. Her hands take down Rey’s braid and untangle her hair, smoothing out the strands tousled by a breeze.

Weaving together two thin braids and some twisted strands, Leia slowly makes her way through her hair down to her left shoulder. Rey wonders if her own mother ever did her hair with the same tenderness. She doesn't remember anything from the first five years of her life, but she still hopes that there was at least a day, _just one day_ when her parents really took care of her before selling her to Unkar Plutt for drinking money. She imagines her mother’s delicate hands touching her hair and her father’s loving chuckle at its beauty...

To hold back her tears, Rey focuses on the touches of Leia's warm fingers to her skin. Two braids made under different angles and woven together near her temple symbolize _faith and hope_. You can’t find there a third braid meaning _love_ that would be necessary if Leia was going to do her a full wedding hairstyle. These two braids eventually become the part of a more complex pattern of twists and thin strands meaning the worries with which she will surely cope – just like she will get a thread knotted at the end of her final braid very soon.

Leia tilts Rey’s head gently to reach the other side of her hair. Rey finds herself thinking about Kylo again and can't help but sigh. The very idea that he could even choose power over his loving family still haunts her. But the real pain that makes her heart ache, makes it impossible to _hate_ him, is caused by something completely different.

Deep inside, he still _regrets_ it. Touching his hand, looking into his eyes, through the shadows of fear and thoughts full of darkness, Rey saw the glowing stardust of his memories. There were the sparkles of Leia's laugh, and the shining eyes of Han who came home after another mission, and the stories about the great Jedi of the past Luke told with his low voice, illuminated by the flames, Chewie's roar that promised a flight under the starry sky and fluffy hugs.

Kylo doesn't believe he can come back. Before their connection faded, his pain had reflected in Rey's heart with a sharp blow, and her first intention had been to shout: _you are wrong, believe me, you are wrong..._

Someone else in the Force joins in the prayer she suddenly begins to repeat in her mind. Rey's despair mingles with the deep longing and remorse of _a mother_.

Leia's hands behind Rey’s shoulder tremble – and a moment later Rey's closed eyes see the beautiful braid of raven hair that looks like a crown on the back of a little boy's head, before feeling the weight of the long hair on her back, the familiar touch of thin fingers...

_"I picked flowers in the garden to decorate your braid, Mom."_

This is not the first time Leia braids someone's hair, following her mother's example. And she has told someone about a special place of braids in the Alderaanian culture before.

The visions fade. Leia sobs quietly, and Rey’s eyes flick open. For the first time in several weeks, she gets enveloped by a familiar low hum. Her fingers feel a slight prickle, and, for just a few seconds, she sees Kylo's expressive brown eyes. Where she saw resentment and sadness, now are shock and amusement. His look lights up, as if he couldn’t wait to see Rey again.

His gaze darts over her face, stopping on Leia's hands that have already woven a thread into Rey's braid and are now tying an intricate yet beautiful knot. Rey reads its meaning in Kylo's mind, and Leia repeats it aloud.

_"My hope lives until the very last star in the galaxy burns out.”_

Leia's hand shakes slightly. The knot carries an eloquent message for everyone who can understand it – the message for _him_.

Rey blinks, and Kylo’s gone. Leia’s fingertips brush against her shoulder, making it clear her hair is done.

“Thank you, General Organa,” Rey says warmly, turning around a little. Catching a glimpse of tears glistening in Leia’s eyes in the morning sun, she freezes. “I think it's time for me to get back to work.”

“Sure, Rey.”

Leia's voice sounds tight, as if she had to swallow the lump in her throat to say so little. Squeezing her hand reassuringly, without looking back, Rey stands up and walks to the hangar, where the pilots have already appeared. She feels it’d be better to leave Leia alone for now.

By the end of the day, Rey is wiped out by exhaustion, but still glad she managed to do everything she planned. Perhaps, there’s really something about Alderaanian braiding traditions.

Taking down the braids before going to sleep, Rey looks at herself in the mirror. She thinks of the pain Leia has felt today and decides that she won’t ever make her return to the same memories. Alderaanian hair braiding lessons can wait.

Faith, hope, and love are three parts of the Alderaanian message for the newlyweds who start a new life together. Rey thinks about them when doing her hair into three buns again. They are different from what she had done before, though, and the most important thing is their new meaning.

_"I hope –"_

_"_ _I believe –"_

_"_ _It’s not too late."_

When the war is over, she will again ask Leia to give her Alderaanian braids.

But first... first General Organa will do the same for her son.

***

It turns out Rey was right – _almost_.

It’s not too late for her to take Ben’s hand. To look into the eyes of her soulmate, now free of his pain, and kiss him with all the love and the passion awakening inside her.

It’s not too late for him to answer her kiss, feeling the same.

Alas...

The Force is full of mysteries, but one of its laws is always clear and unbreakable. _A life for a life._ And the man who told he could take whatever he wanted gives up everything for Rey.

…But Rey remains herself despite her soul being bloody shreds, and her hope lives _until the very last star in the galaxy burns out_.

She is surrounded by billions of stars, and every second she sees one less. They keep disappearing when she braids her hair with her eyes closed, doing as told by _his_ voice from the Force, feeling _his_ fingers guiding hers. Together, they create patterns meaning love, strength, and patience, with her becoming invisible during their shared meditations, almost melting into the Force, reuniting with Ben for just a few hours. She never sees him, but she always remembers his last smile.

This is when Rey feels herself _whole_. No matter how her friends try, they will never understand what it’s like to be a part of a dyad in the Force.

In reality, Rey takes the name of Skywalker that still means hope to the galaxy, doing what she _must_. She flies, she fights, she negotiates to make sure all the sacrifices, _Ben’s sacrifice_ , will not be in vain. He is always with her, and she can feel his love – and growing concern.

As the Resistance and its allies build the Galactic Alliance, Rey’s sense of reality is blurring by longing and struggling with each passing month. Living between two worlds, she sees how deserts and cities, snowy mountains and forests, sparkling waterfalls and blooming flowers coalesce until there’s no difference between them.

When everything in politics gets better, she takes an X-Wing and travels to the planets like Ahch-To and Jedha, the spiritual homes of the Jedi, to make two halves of one soul be as close to each other as possible.

One day, guided by few stars still visible, Rey goes to Chandrila wearing Ben’s black tunic, the braid meaning hope hiding in her hair under the hood of her green poncho.

She finds the garden where a long time ago, one little boy found some flowers for his mother’s braids. She looks up at the last star. It starts growing, blinding her with its sparkling shine until –

Rey doesn’t need hope anymore. She has _him_ , and she wastes no time before taking Ben’s hand and kissing him again after what feels like eternity. Their fingers, _so real_ , bury in each other’s hair that can be done and undone over and over again ad infinitum.

Together, Rey and Ben waltz in the Force among the stars – two that are one, light and darkness intertwining as a perfect whole. Full of love, they guide the trillions of souls lost and found, teaching them to see light and embrace darkness, to find a balance.

Carried by the Force, the patterns of peace, hope, and strength are being woven into the very fabric of the galaxy for ever.


End file.
